Elden Ring Nightreign gets strong start on Steam, with over 2M players on the first day

Elden Ring Nightreign was released yesterday and immediately received many concurrent players within the first hour of launch. SteamDB revealed that the game received over 300K despite criticism for lacking a two-player option and poor communication options.

Only one FromSoftware game received that kind of attention on the first day: Elden Ring, with over 900K peak concurrent players. All other FromSoftware games failed to gain much attention compared to Nightreign, including Dark Souls 3, which reached 129,975 concurrent players.

Nightreign receives high attention against expectations from the player community

FromSoftware revealed that a second patch for improving the Solo Player mode will be released next week after receiving backlash against the two-player mode. The game was mainly designed for three-player cooperation, which attracted most players since multiplayer games usually dominate Steam’s most-played games list.

Nightreign starting out with big numbers, 300K+ concurrents, but pretty mixed early takes. Almost without fail it's complaining about a severe lack of communication options in a co-op game, and no ability to play duos. Same as most reviews said pic.twitter.com/mPKirjsC67

— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) May 30, 2025

Despite the success on the first day, Elden Ring Nightreign has received mixed reactions on the user reviews, with a 66% positive sentiment. Most negative reviews show complaints about the lack of a two-player mode and poor communication options without voice chat.

FromSoftware has revealed a clear interest in initially developing a multiplayer version for experiments before launch. The company admitted and apologized for overlooking the option during the development process. The game is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

The development team at FromSoftware considered solo play from the beginning. Ishizaki revealed that they put a lot of effort into creating the game experience that is playable for solo players while considering the new system’s rules. He added that all their efforts went into multiplayer, and they neglected the duo aspect, but he promised to look into it and consider it in post-launch support.

A patch containing balance adjustments and bug fixes is available for download from yesterday. FromSoftware has warned that PC gamers using the latest graphics configurations may experience frame rate drop errors.

FromSoftware has acknowledged the PC problem and promised to investigate it further for correction. The company said that anyone experiencing the frame rate drop problem may resolve it by setting the graphics from the default High to Medium or Low, lowering the screen resolution, and installing the latest drivers for their graphics.  

FromSoftware sells over 2 million copies on the first day of  Nightreign’s launch

Bandai Namco, Nightreigns’ publisher, announced that pre-orders and early sales had pushed the game past two million units on the first launch day. Elden Ring, which is being compared to Nightreingn’s success, sold over 30 million copies in 2022. The game is not yet included in gaming subscription services like Xbox Game Pass.

Darkness fell over Limveld, and two million Nightfarers rose up against it.
Thank you for your support. #ELDENRING #NIGHTREIGN pic.twitter.com/VEUbLp5xiD

— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) May 30, 2025

Bandai Namco revealed that the upcoming patch 1.02, which will arrive next week, will fix some of the players’ concerns. The patch is expected to include fixes for the Automatic Revival Upon Defeat mechanic, granting one free revival per night boss battle and increasing rune rewards when playing alone.

The release of Elden Ring Nightreign received a mixed reaction, resembling the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC launched in 2024. The DLC received a similar mixed response, with 61% positive reviews. The game was criticized for a vertical difficulty curve. 

DLC currently has the most positive review rating regarded by Elden Ring sickos. Meanwhile, players await to see whether the single-player balance patches and potential duo mode would help Nightreign earn a lasting place in the player community.

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, an all-in-one version of Elden Ring for the Nintendo Switch 2, is also set to release in 2025. It will include content from the DLC Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, released in June 2024. Four new armor sets and a new appearance customization feature for Torrent the Spectral Steed (3 variants) have also been added to this edition.